Shoe Sniffing Gnomes, Belschnickel, und Der Krampus!

Every family has their holiday traditions, and mine is no different. Every year all the kids get their picture taken with 'Father Christmas' - this awesome old pagan style Santa character. He is super friendly and always remembers our names and what we wanted last year, which for doing this for over 20 years and tons of families is quite some feat. We have pictures of all the children throughout the ages and it is really fun at Christmas to see them all sequentially.

My family also spends time with my maternal grandparents, who are old school Germans. They celebrate a little mini Christmas on the 6th of December, where you leave your shoes out and a little gnome visits your house while you sleep. If your shoes stink, it means you have been committing mischief so the gnome fills your shoes with twigs and pine needles. If you have been good, however, the gnome fills your shoes with chocolates and cookies.

When I was really young - maybe 5 or so - my grandparents filled my shoes with pine needles. When I went to put my boots on, all the pine needles (which were dry and sharp) pierced my feet and I started bawling hysterically. I didn't want to take my boots off because I thought there were snakes in my boots and if I took them off I would let the snakes out, so I just sat there crying with my parents trying to figure out what is wrong and me not wanting to walk. My grandparents came up and started teasing me about the gnome thinking I was naughty and that I should start being good lest 'Der Krampus' came to get me.

About ten years later my grandparents filled my shoes with pine needles and warned me about 'Der Krampus', albiet somewhat jokingly. Looking bewildered at them, they sat me down and explained the ancient Germanic traditions of Belschnickel and Der Krampus.

My grandparents are from Northeastern Germany, a wierd place that ties German, Scandinavian, and Eastern European cultural influences together. Even centuries after the Christianization of Europe, people still carried on Germanic Pagan traditions. One of the most awesome things is their depiction of Santa Klaus - or Belschnickel. He is a master hunter who sneaks into poor people's houses to make Christmas awesome - sometimes he leaves a big goose/Christmas feast or firewood. The best story involves an old miller who had three daughters, but couldn't afford a dowry for them - so Belschnickel snuck in and stuffed their socks with gold.

Now, when Saint Nicholaus/Belschnickel comes around to give presents/firewood to all the good deserving children and families, he wakes Der Krampus. Der Krampus is a demonic satyr who carries rusty chains with bells on them to frighten children, a fist full of birch branches to flog naughty children, and a sack for holding really naughty children to dump them in Hell later. There is a tradition on the 6th of December, when the shoe sniffing gnome comes, that the young men dress up in horns and furs and run around with chains chasing children. Supposedly this reminds children to shape up in the interval until Christmas.

Also, my Norwegian cousin Matthias sent me some pictures of a little hedgehog - or bolla piggsvin - that came to live with him and made it's nest in his recording studio/distro.